Danish European Mission's donors and intercessors support the "Bags of Hope" project in two countries in Central Asia. The project consists of local churches distributing bags of food to needy families and giving Christians a practical way to show God's love.
Ira's life transformed
Ira is one of the people who saw her life transformed when she started receiving Bags of Hope.
Ira is widowed and she lives with her two sons in a small town in a country in Central Asia. She says her view is picturesque as she can see the mountains from her apartment. However, her living conditions are limited to a one-bedroom apartment of only 16 square meters.
Her everyday life is organized around her youngest son, who is now 12 years old, because he was born with severe cerebral palsy (brain damage) and is therefore developmentally disabled. He needs constant care and supervision 24 hours a day. Because of this situation, Ira can't work as there isn't much help for the mentally disabled in her country. Her family's budget is therefore limited to her son's disability pension and a small income she receives from a part-time job.
Every night, when Ira's eldest son returns home from technical school, he looks after his brother. Ira then goes to a nearby place that sells grilled chicken, where she works cleaning the grill. She earns $8 a day and also gets some fat and leftovers to use to make soup at home.
Ira says: "But these circumstances have not broken me and I have not become bitter.“
In 2021, she got in touch with a local church and they offered to help her with Bags of Hope. This means that she has received a bag of food when it has been difficult for her to make ends meet.
She said: "They are very nice and sometimes come over just to have a cup of tea with me. I really appreciate that.“
The church also gave Ira a Bible, which she started reading. A lot of what she read she didn't understand, so she talked to the visitors from the church about it when they visited her.
One day, an amazing new window suddenly opened up for Ira!
It happened the afternoon she accepted Jesus as her savior. "From that day on, it was as if God's light shone through my window in my small apartment. It gave me joy and a zest for life. I have since realized that it is the Holy Spirit and the light of the Gospel that brings me hope and joy.”
Ira's two sons have also experienced Jesus now. All three attend the local church regularly, along with the other Christian believers - who Ira refers to as "our brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus".
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